For the Record
by ayeofnewt
Summary: Diego finds Klaus' police record.


**This follows TV series canon except :**

**1) Vanya doesn't destroy the house and**

**2) they save the world without becoming kids. **

**+additional Klaus backstory **

**I may write the story of how the apocalypse didn't happen at a later date but for right now just assume that it was through the healing power of ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT OUR FEELINGS. So now all the Hargreeves live together again and are working on learning how to be functioning humans/helping Vanya figure out her powers**.

"So," Diego called as he entered the room, "I was in the records department at the police station today."

"Why were you at the police station?" Luther asked, furrowing his brow as his gaze followed Diego's movement into the room. Allison raised her eyebrows and gave a slight teasing smile to silently second Luther's question.

"Eh, not important." Diego dismissed quickly.

"Right." Five smirked. His brother shot him a look before continuing.

"Why I was there isn't important. But what I found while I was there is something that I think everyone will be interested in. Some perhaps more than others." With the last phrase, Diego wiggled his eyebrows suggestively towards Klaus, who had been picking at his nails rather absentmindedly until that point.

"What?" Klaus startled slightly and looked at him in confusion, straightening up from where he had been slouching on the couch. Diego grinned, turning back towards the group and lifting the thick manila folder he had been carrying up.

"I happened to be looking under H, and who's name came up but our dear troubled brother's?"

The effect was instant. Allison grinned, her eyebrows shooting up. Luther sighed in exasperation, shaking his head slightly at the size of the folder, though he too had a slight smile tugging that the corner of his lips. Five seemed to share Luther's sentiments and rolled his eyes. Even Vanya looked mildly amused. They all seemed to miss the way the color drained from Klaus' face.

"Hey!" he shouted, his voice pitching up as he quickly stood. "Give it to me, Diego!" Klaus reached for the folder, barely keeping his arm from shaking. Behind him, Ben had also stood, his eyes widening with worry.

"Nah, I don't think so." Diego teased, stepping back and lifting the folder slightly higher. "I think we first take a little look and see what trouble you've been getting into. After all, we have," Diego considered the folder again, "a lot of catching up to do." There was a slight laugh from the others, who were unused to getting a rise out of the fourth sibling. Teasing Klaus had always been difficult, he was almost impossible to embarrass.

"Diego, give it to me now." Klaus made a lung for the folder which Diego quickly evaded. He waved the file tauntingly and Klaus vaulted over the coffee table after him.

"Hey, guys, not in the house!" Luther warned. Ignoring him, Klaus continued to chase Diego around the room, and almost succeeded in grabbing the file before he tripped himself on a lamp cord. He managed to right himself before face-planting on the tile, and caught up to Diego who was standing behind the couch. The two faced off, mirroring each other's movement from across the barrier of the furniture. Vanya and Allison could no longer hide that they were laughing, and even Five and Luther looked amused.

"You want it?" Diego waved the folder under Klaus' face. "Come get it!" He yanked the folder back narrowly out of his brother's reach.

"Oh, I'm coming for it." Klaus grit out, grabbing the back of the couch and preparing to launch himself over it. Before he could, Klaus was grabbed from behind, Luther wrapping him in an enormous bear hug and lifting him so that his feet barely brushed the ground.

"Come on, Klaus," he said light-heartily as Klaus struggled pointlessly to escape. "We all know the kinds of stuff you got into anyway. Let him have some fun. Then maybe you'll remember this next time you're thinking about getting high." Klaus felt a pang in his stomach.

"I'm clean," he muttered, trying to elbow his brother with little success.

Ben scowled at Luther from across the room, trying to grab the folder from Diego's hand only to phase through it instead. He looked back to Klaus, encouraging him, "Come on, we can get it. Focus." Klaus shook his head in response, kicking his heels against Luther's shins. There was no way he was calm enough to focus on giving Ben a physical form. Diego grinned triumphantly, flipping the folder open.

"Klaus Hargreeves," he read, "disorderly conduct." He turned the page, "Possession, no surprise there." He glanced up and grinned at Klaus's red face and desperate wiggling in Luther's arms, who did not appear in the slightest effected. "Ah, you're so embarrassed!" he laughed. "It's cute!" Turning back to the file he continued reading. "Possession, possession, intent to sell, possession, petty theft— really Klaus? Possession, public intoxication, vandalism— nice to see you changing it up, loitering, petty theft, possession, resisting arrest, possession again"

The further through the file Diego progressed the more Klaus struggled. He began to wonder how Luther couldn't feel his heart pounding in his chest, but then again maybe his muscle was just too dense—

"Jesus, Klaus." Diego interrupted his brief distraction. "How are you not dead yet?" He flipped forward a few more pages without reading them. "Possession, public intoxication, solicitation—" his voice broke off suddenly. The laughter stopped with a choked noise from Vanya. Slowly, his siblings turned to look at Klaus, who had gone limp in Luther's arms, his eyes squeezed shut and face burning. Ben looked pained.

Without intending to, Luther loosened his grip and Klaus slid out of his arms to stand, his head down as he avoided eye contact. After a long moment of silence Vanya started, "Klaus—" He cut her off quickly, jerking into his usual relaxed stance, his smile just a little too wide and tight to be believable.

"Ha!" he laughed forcefully, "I almost forgot about that one, was a little out of it ya-know?" His voice was too loud and high to sound fully relaxed. "Cops!" Klaus rolled his eyes dramatically, "Have no fashion sense I tell you. You wear leather shorts one time and suddenly they think you're a 'hooker', " Klaus complained, putting air quotes around the last word. No one said a word as they stared at him with a variety of horror and shock. He winced slightly, stepping forward and reaching for the folder still held loosely in Diego's hands. He made no attempt to stop Klaus, only staring at him with wide eyes.

"All the same," Klaus stated, avoiding looking at anyone again. "I think I'll just, take this back." He gestured loosely with the folder and turned away. No one spoke, or attempted to stop him as he slowly walked out of the room. Only Ben followed.

Ben found Klaus digging desperately through the drawers in his room, the file thrown haphazardly on the bed.

"Woah, hey," he crossed the room quickly, trying and failing to pull on Klaus' arm. "Don't do something stupid."

"I'm not going to get high." Klaus snapped, jerking away although it was not necessary. "I wouldn't give them the satisfaction," he added, murmuring under his breath.

Ben relaxed slightly, asking "Then what—?"

"Yeah baby, knew I still had these." Klaus interrupted, pulling a crumpled pack of cigarettes out from a mass of socks. The pack was still half full and Klaus placed one between his lips with shaky hands, reaching for the lighter on his dresser. He glanced at Ben and grimaced, "I'd appreciate it if you'd skip the lecture right now, at least they're legal."

Looking away again quickly, Klaus struggled to light his cigarette while trembling. Watching him for a few moments, Ben stepped forward and gently took the lighter from Klaus, igniting it for him. Looking at his brother in confusion, Klaus leaned forward lit his cigarette.

"I thought you wanted me to quit," he whispered, slowly dragging the smoke into his lungs.

"I do," Ben agreed. "But right now it's the lesser of evils."

Klaus exhaled in acknowledgement and slowly sank onto the bed. "These are stale," he muttered.

Silence fell between them. There was no need to address what the others had learned because Ben already knew it all. He had been there to see it himself. Klaus had been far too sober for far too long and was desperate enough to take a bigger risk than he normally would. But, damn, that guy had seemed like he had money (and to be fair he did), but he should have trusted his instincts that it seemed wrong. Of course, at most he was expecting the guy to be into something weird, maybe rough him up a bit but—

Klaus jerked himself out of his thoughts, not wishing to remember it any more. Though he had devoted his life to shutting the ghosts out, there had been very few times he had really wished Ben wasn't with him, and that day in the alley was one of them. It had been years and many conversations ago, but Klaus couldn't force himself to look at his brother, drowning in the same humiliation he had felt as Ben stared at him through the bars of the holding cell.

Silently, Ben sank down onto the bed next to Klaus and rested his hand briefly on Klaus' knee. A reminder. Klaus flinched, then brushed Ben's hand with his own before drawing back in on himself. Ben let go but remained beside him, only moving to light another cigarette when the one Klaus was smoking burnt out. It took four for his hands to stop shaking enough to light his own. And it was on the sixth that there was knock at the door.

Klaus' eyes flicked up before he stared down at his feet again, hunching his shoulders further forward, his still skinny spine pressed up in painful-looking curve.

"Klaus?" Diego's voice came surprisingly tentatively from the hallway, "Are you in there?" Klaus rolled his eyes. It was a stupid question, with their training and his continued 'work', Diego would know if Klaus was in or not. Plus there was the definite smell of cigarette smoke.

Beside him, Ben frowned and stood, taking a few steps forward so that he was between Klaus and the door. Diego knocked again. "Klaus?"

The silence felt tight as Klaus took another drag from his cigarette. His hands were shaking again. "Klaus," Diego's voice was louder now, "Klaus, if you don't respond I'm going to break down this door. I just— I just need to know if you're ok. Even if you tell me to go away, I just need you to respond, okay? Klaus?"

Diego was speaking quite loudly now, pounding the door with his fist. "Can you hear me? If I get in there and you're listening to music with your headphones I swear to God— " he broke off, seeming to control himself. "Klaus?" he asked more calmly. A few silent beats passed.

Ben looked at Klaus, who ducked his head again, taking a deep breath.

"That's it!" Diego shouted from the hallway. "Klaus, I am coming in on the count of three and I don't care if you're naked. One, two—"

"Ok, fine!" Klous shouted, throwing his hands up. "Fine. Don't hurt yourself, I'm fine."

In the hallway, Diego exhaled shakily, slumping slightly against the door. "C-can I come in?" he asked, relieved that whatever Klaus was doing hadn't left him unable to respond, but not reassured his brother wasn't high enough to be convinced he could fly. It was a long drop from his bedroom window.

"Yeah, I think no," Ben responded, flatly, though of course Diego couldn't hear him.

Klaus remained quiet for a long pause before speaking. "Yeah, sure." Ben looked over his shoulder in surprise but didn't say anything. It was quiet for a minute in the hallway before Klaus added, "It's open, dummy."

The knob slowly turned and Diego entered, bracing himself slightly for what he might see. Klaus watch him tiredly from where he was perched on the edge of his bed, looking disheveled and tired but calm. Sober. A twitch of his fingers caught Diego's attention and he stared at the cigarette dangling there.

"It's a normal cigarette." Klaus snapped. "Perfectly above board and all that. Even Allison smokes these you know."

"Really?" Diego perked up a bit before sobering again. He looked guiltily at Klaus. "I was just worried. You have to understand why."

Klaus flinched. "Yeah. I get it," he muttered, "Klaus the junkie, gets upset and pumps himself full of whatever he can get his hands on. Will probably end up getting arrested for something because he's an idiot who—" Diego winced guiltily and held up a hand.

"Stop, I get it. You just seemed upset."

"I'm clean."

Diego looked a him. "I know," he whispered. Klaus looked back at his feet, picking at the rips in his jeans with his unoccupied hand. There was a stretch of silence before Diego spoke again, "I'm sorry."

Klaus' head shot up. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have," Diego took several hasty steps forward, walking directly through Ben in the process.

"Hey!"

"Watch where you're going!" Klaus and Ben protested in unison. Diego froze, looking down for something he'd stepped on.

"It's considered rude to walk through people you know." Klaus continued, looking at Diego reproachfully. Diego blinked.

"Is Ben here?" He looked behind him quickly.

"Yes. And you walked through him." Klaus said flatly.

"Shit, sorry, Ben." Diego addressed the air a foot to Ben's left.

Ben rolled his eyes.

"He gets it." Klaus translated, shifting uncomfortably. Diego looked back at him, nodding slightly.

"Thanks." He took the last few steps to stand next to the bed. "Can I sit?" he asked quietly. Klaus gave a small nod. Sliding the mess of paper gingerly back, Diego eased down on Klaus' right. Ben came and sat on his left.

"Klaus,' Diego began again. "I'm sorry. It was," he paused, "wrong of me to read your file like that in front of everyone. I shouldn't have even taken it. I don't know what I was thinking."

Klaus wiped quickly at his eyes. "It's fine," he rasped. "Just a joke. Really, I should thank you, I almost forgot about that wild story I have, great dinner party material that, I—"

"Klaus," Diego cut him off. Klaus looked at him and knew he wasn't going to get away with his story. He grimaced and looked away, grabbing his upper arm with his free hand to try and steady it as a long piece of ash dropped from his shaking cigarette.

"What do you want me to say Diego?" he asked, sounding much older and tireder than Diego could remember him sounding since that day at the VA.

"You don't have to lie." Klaus made a skeptical noise.

"You don't want to hear the truth."

"Maybe I do."

"Oh, really?" Klaus asked, turning to look at his brother. Ben raised a hesitant hand to try and calm him, but Klaus stood before he could touch his shoulder, taking several quick steps backwards. "You want to hear about how your trashy brother was homeless and hungry and stupid enough to steal food from a gas station? You want to hear about how he was so high out of his mind that the police found him sitting in the middle of the road cussing out a traffic cone because he thought it was our father? You want to hear how he was so fucking desperate he would get on his knees for any guy willing to give him a few bucks? How he was such a fucking pathetic junkie that sometimes he would do it just for a hit? Is that what you want me to say to you Diego?"

Klaus was shouting loud enough now that he was sure the others downstairs could hear him, and wasn't sure if he cared. He was shaking now harder than he had in withdrawal and only half of it was in anger. The rest was the burning of shame and regret, feelings that despite his siblings' beliefs, Klaus knew quite well. Unable to look at Diego, he stared at the ground, watching through watery eyes as the dying orange glow of the cigarette slowly burned out. It had gone flying at some point during his rant and wild gesturing, and Klaus felt a brief flash of gratitude that it hadn't set fire to anything. The last thing he needed right now was to be blamed for burning the house down.

There was a soft scraping sound as Diego stood. Klaus stiffened.

"No," Diego croaked, "no I don't w-want to h-hear that K-Klaus." He paused for a moment, taking a shaky breath. Klaus flinched, curling in on himself. "I don't want to hear that, because you're my brother and I love you. I don't want to hear that you have so much pain. But," his voice broke slightly, "but if you need to talk about it, then I'll listen. I promise. I shouldn't have made your file into a joke and I'm sorry for that."

Klaus blinked, trying to reconcile what he was hearing to what he had been expecting. He slowly straightened, trying to wipe his eyes before his brother saw, only to find tears in Diego's eyes too.

Taking a deep breath Diego finished, "And I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you were going through all of that."

Klaus looked away, his face burning, shame hot in his stomach. "Yeah, well, it wasn't like I really deserved it. I lied and I stole. I probably wouldn't have let you help me if you tried."

"But I didn't try," Diego admitted, "and I should have started trying a long time ago. When we were kids."

"What did you know then," Klaus gave a weak smile, "we were kids. I didn't help you either. So I guess I'm sorry too."

Diego snorted, "How about we stop apologizing and blame Dad?"

"That bastard."

They gave each other watery smiles. For a moment they hesitated awkwardly before Diego sighed and started across the room purposefully, saying, "Come here you weirdo," as he pulled Klaus into a tight hug. Surprised, Klaus paused for a beat before he wrapped his arms around Diego too.

After a long moment Klaus drew back, wiping his nose on the back of his hand. Grinning he asked, "Well now what do we do? We've never done this stage of an argument before."

"Honestly, I don't know. It's a first for me too."

Behind them, Ben rolled his eyes. "You people are a disaster."

"Oh shut up Ben, like you're any better."

Klaus waved his hand at Diego's questioning look. "Never mind."

Looking over Diego's shoulder, Klaus remembered the papers still scattered across the bed. His expression fell and Diego turned, following his gaze. "Is that the original or did you make a copy?"

"The original. I didn't have time to make that many copies."

They both winced before Klaus quickly moved on. "You probably need to take that back then, huh?"

Diego grinned. "Actually," he started slowly, "I have a better idea of what to do with it. There's something else we never did as kids that I've always wanted to try."

The pages that documented the last fourteen years of Klaus' life took seconds to burn, the black of the ink disappearing almost instantly into the charred pages. His file may have been large, but the blaze lasted for not much longer than a minute. The logs that Allison had carefully arranged around the folder burned much longer, turning into a proper campfire in the hastily dug pit in the backyard.

Claire is a Girl Scout, she wrote in explanation, tearing up. Luther rubbed her back in comfort and she quickly smiled again, gesturing to Vanya to pass her the marshmallows. She demonstrated proper roasting technique, moving around the fire and adjusting hands as needed. Several marshmallows ended up in the ashes before the first s'more was achieved, which Luther quickly evaluated at the greatest food ever invented. After his eighth marshmallow erupted into flame, Vanya finally took pity on Five and told him she liked hers crispy, asking if he would trade the blackened mass for her already assembled s'more. Meanwhile, Klaus nearly choked laughing at Diego, who had tried to take a bite out of his s'more only to have the entire marshmallow gush out the other end and land directly in his lap.

Due to the learning curve, and Five who tried and failed six more times before giving up, they ran out of marshmallows before the rest of the ingredients. But honestly, no one really minded. They passed around chocolate bars instead, swapping memories of the few good times they'd had when they were younger, and funny stories from the years they were apart.

Klaus managed to make Ben visible for a short time, though he still had difficulty maintaining the image for long, especially without the adrenaline of danger. "Sorry," he whispered as Ben flickered out of sight for the rest of the siblings.

"It's ok," Ben smiled. "I'm still here. And they're all asleep anyway."

Klaus looked at his siblings, slumped against each other around the glowing ashes of the fire; Allison and Vanya sharing blankets, Luther lightly snoring, and Five with chocolate smeared across his cheek. "They're going to be stiff tomorrow," he laughed. "Maybe I should be the smart one for a change and go sleep on a real bed."

"Come on Klaus, that's not a real camp out."

He sighed good-naturedly, "You're right, as usual. I guess I can tough it out for one night. I do have the most experience sleeping outside you know." Klaus grinned at Ben, winking saucily. Ben snorted and bumped his shoulder into Klaus'.

"Go to sleep, dummy."

"Make me," Klaus murmured and was asleep almost before he finished talking.

Ben rolled his eyes and sank down further, resting his head against Klaus'. He let his eyes close half way. He couldn't sleep, but he could take over the job of look-out while Klaus did.


End file.
